Truck crushes soldier in Lagos

A Military personnel was yesterday crushed by a truck at Cele, along the Oshodi / Apapa expressway.

Eye witnesses said that the truck carrying a 40ft container was descending the Ijesha/ Cele link bridge when it suddenly had a break failure.

Driver of the truck with an unknown identity was said to have hooted the horn severally while his conductor alerted motorists in front of them, of the situation.

An eye witness, King Udeme, said ” I alighted from a bus which I boarded from Yaba and was waiting for a tricycle that would take me to NNPC, when I saw the truck descending the bridge with the conductor shouting ‘brake failure’ Motorists hurriedly parked by the side of the road while commercial tricyclists and motorcyclists who usually parked in front of Rain oil to pick passengers sped off. Some of them even abandoned their motorbikes. I ran into the filling station with others.

“Just then, we heard a bang. Behold, the truck had crushed a soldier. The soldier was trying to kick -start his motorcycle, which refused to start, when the truck rammed into him. He died on the spot. The casualty would have been much had it occurred when it was dark. It happened by 6pm.”

Driver of the truck and his conductor reportedly fled the scene to avoid being lynched by an angry mob which threatened to set the truck on fire. The timely arrival of policemen from Isolo division and those stationed at Cele bus-stop stopped the move.

The incident caused a hitch in the free flow of traffic, leaving commuters to walk long distances before they could board buses to their respective destinations. Commercial motorcyclists on the other hand, hijacked the opportunity as they collected more than twice the amount they ordinarily would have collected from passengers who opted to take motorbikes.

The truck according to eye witnesses was eventually removed and taken to the Isolo division while the body of the victim was taken to the Isolo General Hospital morgue by the Police.